Love Grows One by One
by CloudSomersault
Summary: AU. After 5 years stranded in Lian Yu Oliver Queen is back in Starling City. Is Laurel Lance ready to face her fears and embrace the changes his sudden return entails? - This is Lauriver. I own nothing but Maia.
1. Pilot (1)

_And in other news, details as to the castaway story you've all heard about the son of a very wealthy billionaire will soon become a legendary story._

Laurel's eyes fell from Adam Hunt's picture. Her eyes losing complete focus on her surroundings as her ears trained into that specific frequency, editing out every other noise, merely interested in that story… that oddly familiar story.

_Jessica now has more details and the complete castaway story._

As her coworkers reverberating noise increased, she frowned and pulled herself up from the chair in less than one of her accelerated heartbeats. She quickly turned to the TV and walked slowly in that direction, anxious, shocked and immersed in disbelief.

_The Queen's Gambit" was last heard from more than 5 years ago. Mr. Queen has reportedly confirmed he was the only survivor of the accident that took the lives of local resident Sarah Lance. Survived by her sister, Laurel-_

Not wanting to hear more of the news the brunette grabbed the remote and without saying a word she turned off the TV. Everyone in the office was now concentrating on her, waiting for a reaction. They all had heard about the story and they all knew about her and Oliver's past and now, suddenly, they were not looking at her taken aback for the sudden action that had deprived them of bombastic news. No. Now they were looking at her, inspecting her, dissecting her every move, wanting to take in her reaction and pitying her all at once. It was confirmed. Her sister was dead and her long lost cheating ex-boyfriend had somehow resurfaced from the dead. It was all too much. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other and glanced from side to side at the staring faces before dejectedly letting go of the remote and walking away – Adam Hunt's case long lost in her confused mind. With each step she took the need to disappear intensified, so each step she took was faster than the previous one until she stepped outside and took off running towards her car. Inside she locked the doors and let her head fall back. What was she supposed to do now?

By lunchtime Laurel decided ignoring would be the best route for her. Accepting Oliver's return would mean accepting changes she was not ready to deal with, not now and not ever. When she returned to the office it was as if nothing had happened. Except it had and she wouldn't be able to run away from it as she had planned to do. As she approached her board depicting Adam Hunt's case she saw him. Oliver Queen. There he was standing, marking his presence, filling the room. She stopped dead in her tracks and frowned, her green eyes conveying all the pent up pain and frustration.

"Hello, Laurel" he greeted her softly.

She swallowed hard. It felt as if she was being slapped, listening to a voice she thought she would never hear again. Laurel just stared and he stared back, each of them taking the other in. Oliver acknowledging how beautiful and successful she'd become, how she'd strived and how sorry he was for being the rock in her shoe, Laurel still lost in her mixed feelings, still in disbelief and still harboring a warm, sticky anger for all that he'd done to her, for all she'd had to go through because of him. She was so lost in her thoughts she didn't realize she had consented for him to lead her outside. They had been walking in silence for a while when Oliver suddenly decided to interrupt.

"You went to law school. You said you would."

"Yeah… Everyone's proud," she replied awkwardly.

"Adam Hunt's a heavy hitter," Oliver continued unsure of how to go about the situation. "You sure you want to get in the ring with him?"

"Five years and you want to talk about Adam Hunt?" the brunette asked him, her voice deepening with her annoyance.

"No," he replied quickly, glad they were finally cutting through the conversation fillers. "Not really," he added.

"Why are you here, Ollie?" she let out in a confused breath, her heart drumming a rock concert in her chest, making her feel vulnerable even though she showed nothing but the power of a strong woman. She stopped on the sidewalk, refusing to take one more step with him.

"To apologize," he told her without hesitating, looking deep into her eyes, trying to show her how he was changed and how he meant every word. And to see such changes scared Laurel. It made it so much more difficult for her to hate him. She breathed heavily through her mouth, anxiety written on her face. "It was my fault. I wanted to ask you not to blame her."  
"For what? Falling under your spell?" she finally snapped. "How could I possibly blame her for doing the same things that I did?"

"I never meant to-"

"She was my sister!" she cut him off. "I couldn't be angry because she was dead. I couldn't grieve because I was so angry. That's what happens when your sister dies while screwing your boyfriend. We buried an empty coffin because her body was at the bottom of the ocean where you left her. It should have been you," Laurel seethed with poise.

"I know that it's too late to say this, but I'm sorry."

"Yeah, I'm sorry, too. I'd hoped that you'd rot in hell a whole lot longer than 5 years."

* * *

"Where the hell have you been?" Detective Lance asked his daughter, the vein in his forehead bulging, matching his irritation.

"Where's Maia?" Laurel asked evenly. She was tired and the last thing she wanted was to start another fight with her father.

"You didn't answer my question," her father pressed.

"Neither did you," she retorted dropping her car keys on the table and her blazer on the back of the couch.

"No. You don't get to do that Laurel," Detective Lance yelled. "I don't care about what you heard today, you have responsibilities!"

"Yeah…" She chuckled. "You're one to talk about responsibilities aren't you?"

"Laurel…" he warned her.

"Look dad… I'm tired and I need some space. This is not the time to talk unless you really want to start an unnecessary fight."

He sighed, but nodded. She was right. It had been a long day and he too needed the space to process.

"Maia's in her room. She wants to see you," her father told her as she walked past him.

"May I come in?" she asked, knocking on the bedroom door next to hers and opening it slightly. When she didn't get a reply she let herself in "Hey," she said softly, mustering a small smile to go with it.

"Why you forget me, mommy?" Sad green eyes looked intently at her, not judging, but disappointed and scared.

"Mommy didn't forget you baby, I…" she stopped mid-sentence, pulling her daughter to her chest and cuddling her. Her little girl wrapped her arms around her waist and allowed her mom to rock her. "I'm sorry Maia," Laurel whispered, avoiding a sob as her eyes betrayed her and allowed tears to flow freely.

"S'ok mommy. I wove you."

"I love you too sweetheart," she told her forcefully, kissing the top of her little girl's head before quickly wiping her tears away. "Time for bed, little angel."

"Kay." Maia got up and ran to her bed.

"Not so fast, beautiful!" Laurel smiled. "Did you brush your teeth?"

"Uh uhh." The small child nodded enthusiastically, her eyes widening with her seriousness. Laurel couldn't help but break into a wider smile.

"Okay then, get in bed." The four year old quickly jumped inside her bed and turned on her right side, looking at her mom. Laurel kneeled in front of her daughter and caressed her smooth face, tucking a strand of chocolate brown hair behind her ear. "You know I love you Maia, don't you?"

Her daughter nodded, beaming at her.

"And daddy loves you too, very much."

"Uh uhh," the little brunette looked intently at her mom. "Mommy?"

"Yes, sweetie."

"Do you miss my daddy?"

Silence. Laurel shifted uncomfortably, breaking the powerful gaze she had been holding with her daughter. She opened her mouth to speak, but she didn't know what to say.

"Yes, sweetie. I miss daddy," she finally said.

"I miss daddy too," Maia whispered her confession.

"You… you do?" Laurel asked, sniffling, her smile not being enough to hide the pain in her face, or minimize glistening eyes. "Would you like to meet daddy?" She asked warily. "You know… if, if you could." That was a silly question and she knew it. Of course her daughter would want to meet her dad. Although she'd never met him and although she and her dad had spent 5 years hating him, Maia had grown to stories of a loving, funny man who loved her more than anything in the world and Maia adored him. Laurel had never expected him to return, but now he was back, Oliver Queen was back and she was afraid of losing one more person she loved, her beautiful daughter, to him.

"But, mommy, daddy is in heaven," her little girl pouted.

"I know, but… what if daddy could come back, like, like magic…" Laurel pressed, grimacing at the stupidity of her own questions.

"Then he stays here," Maia grinned, trapping her tongue between her teeth.

"Here?"

"Uh uhh, with you mommy and me too and then we be happy. But daddy can't come here anymore…"

"Right… he can't, mommy was just being silly." Laurel smiled sadly, leaning forward to kiss her daughter's forehead before getting up and jumping in bed next to her little girl, holding her close against her chest. There was no way she would let go of her baby tonight – her little Maia Lance.


	2. Pilot (2)

"Dude…everyone is happy you're alive and you went to see the one person who isn't?" Tommy asked Oliver as the two of them drove around the city in Merlyn's shiny new car.

Oliver only shrugged, unaffected. "She's the one person I've been wanting to see for the past five years. I ruined her life, I lived to tell her I'm sorry, even if she'll never believe me. I owe her."

"Well… how did that work for you?"

"Not as badly as I thought it would go. Laurel, she's…she's kind." Oliver smiled a regretful smile.

"Believe it or not she didn't hesitate to find another suitor," Tommy joked.

"Good for her," Oliver let out, nodding, restraining his emotions from his friend's view. Certainly he couldn't have expected that after all these years Laurel would have stayed single.

"No, I didn't mean she's seeing anyone, but she must have been…"

Oliver frowned. For once he couldn't catch his quirky friend's innuendo.

"It's just… never mind. You're over her anyway, why should it matter? Let's just hit some hot spots, a party or two and forget about it."

Oliver's face remained blank, expressionless. He would never be over Laurel and assuming that was a complete mistake. He could see why anyone would believe he was over the brunette – he had been cheating on her with her sister, having fun with the both of them, taking as much as he could from the two beautiful girls – but he had never expected things to take the turn they took. It wasn't supposed to have happened that way, but had things happened any differently, now he still wished he could have been more mature about the whole relationship and treat Laurel with the respect she deserved. Now he was going to focus on righting his wrongs and dedicate his whole life to protect this woman, the love of his life, to make it up as much as he could from all the hurt he had caused.

He was so focused on the image of her and on Tommy's words that he never noticed when two masked men approached Tommy's car, pointing guns at them. There was nothing he could do when they shot them with tranquilizing darts as he quickly fell into darkness.

"Mr. Queen!" He heard from a distance someone calling him with a distorted voice, making him stir into consciousness.

"Mr. Queen!" the masked man called again, charging a taser in front of his face, silently threatening him.

Oliver looked around him slightly disoriented, assessing the situation. He spotted Tommy lying flat on the floor before he realized he was tied to a chair.

"Mr. Queen! Did your father survive that accident?" the man asked with labored breathing. "I ask the questions. You give me the answers," the masked man insisted when Oliver didn't say anything. Still, Oliver wasn't speaking, instead he concentrated on his tied wrists, trying to understand if they were loose enough. Losing his patience, the man hit Oliver with the taser gun, making him scream from the top of his lungs.

"UUuurghhnn…." Oliver grunted loudly through a clenched jaw.

"Did he make it to the island? Did he tell you anything?" The man tried again, the desperation filling his voice.

"Yes, he did," Oliver let out after the man hit him once more with an electric charge.

"What did he tell you, Mr. Queen?"

"He told me I'm gonna kill you," he spoke lowly and surely, looking straight at the man's eyes, revealing a fury he'd never felt within Starling City.

The man let out an amused laugh. "You're delusional. You're zip-cuffed to that chair."

"Not anymore."

* * *

"Everybody, hey!" Tommy screamed over the loud cheering of the hundreds of people in the club taking a look at Oliver. "Man of the hour! Whoo !" He cheered along with everyone else. "And, ladies, please give this man a proper homecoming." Merlyn clapped.

As Oliver climbed down the stairs to the sound of "We are the champions" everyone stared at him, cheering wildly, unaware of the fact that even though he was acting like his old partying self, he had no desire to be there. He still took the stage to entertain curious, vain minds, accepting shots of Tequila and resurrecting the pig he once was - anything to create the mask he needed to maintain, so people would remember how he once was and forget about any possibility of a change in his character. He was just coming down from the stage, trying to escape the bodyguard his mother had insisted followed him around after the attack when he bumped into someone.

"Oh! Oh…" Oliver gasped, surprised to see Laurel in his party. "You're here…" He frowned, confused, glad to see her, but surprised nonetheless.

"Tommy. He made the point that we have too many years between us to leave things the way we left them." She nodded as she spoke. "Is there someplace quieter that we could go?" she asked somewhat unsure.

"Uh…Yeah," Oliver replied casually, leading Laurel to a quiet and secluded corner of the club where the music sounded distant and they didn't have to scream to be heard by the other.

"I'm sorry about saying that you should have been the one who died," she told him, guiltily. "That was wrong."

"If I could trade places with her, I would." Laurel looked straight at him, reading the honesty in his face. They fell silent for a minute, reveling in the company of the other and it was enough for the brunette to forget about everything and feel the pull she'd always felt around Oliver. She swallowed hard, very much aware of her increasing heartbeat.

"I, uh…There's something that I've been afraid to say, but I need you to know," she nearly whispered. She needed to let it out, she couldn't hide it from Oliver. If it wasn't from her, sooner or later he would find out from someone else and it wouldn't be fair. She had to give him the benefit of the doubt and trust him that he would make the right choices.

He nodded. "Ok."

"Just… first…" she paused, exhaling loudly, to collect her thoughts. "I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but if you need someone to talk to about what happened to you, I'm here, you know?" she told him honestly. It was about time she let go of the hate towards him. It had been something that rendered her powerless for a very long time, but she couldn't cling to that feeling forever. She would have to learn to live with his presence and be friendly.

Oliver chuckled. He couldn't allow her get close to him, not with the kind of life he planned on maintaining. It couldn't possibly work. He had to create a distance even if it was the last thing he wanted to do. "Laurel, you always saw the best in me." She waited for him to continue, smiling slightly. "Right now, that's what you're doing, looking at me, and you're wondering if that island changed me somehow, if it made me a better person. It didn't."

Her smile fell. Could she really be such a fool. Had she really been stupid enough to fall for his spell again?

"Stay away from me," he told her bluntly.

Her heart throbbed in pain, for her… but mostly for her daughter. There was no way she would allow this jerk to come near her. Her daddy would remain dead to her.

"Otherwise I'm just gonna hurt you again, but this time, it will be worse," he added through his mask, pretending to be unaware of the disappointment he was causing. "Seriously Laurel… just stay away." These were possibly the hardest words to ever come out of his mouth, nothing but stabbing, painful lies. "Don't go all mushy with me, just tell me whatever you were going to say but don't get any hopes that I'm different."

"You know what...I have nothing to say to you anymore Oliver. You are right. I thought you were different. Actually… you are different. That island did change you. At least now you're honest," she snapped.

"Well it had to happen someday, right?" he chuckled in response to her bitter words. "Got to roll. I got 5 years of debauchery to catch up on!" With those words he was gone, leaving a dumbfounded Laurel behind.

"Did you tell him?"

She looked behind her shoulder.

The brunette cleared her throat. "Tell him what?" she asked Tommy with a raspy voice.

"About your daughter."

"Why would I-"

"You can cut the crap now. You're good, you fooled me..." he said in fake amusement. "For five years I really thought she was someone else's but there was something about seeing you with him tonight… It just clicked, it's written all over your face. She's his daughter isn't she?" the dark haired man interrupted. "I think I chose to believe you, but it was there all along, she looks like him… Maia."

"You will not say a word to him Tommy! As far as my daughter knows, her father is dead. You will keep it that way if you don't want to screw my child's life. He's clearly as immature as always," Laurel seethed, looking dangerously at him. "You keep your mouth shut, Tommy. It's none of your business."

"He has a right to know."

Laurel chuckled. "He's spoiled and a selfish, lying, immature child. He's not ready for responsibilities. I won't trust him with my daughter and you better stay away from this Tommy. Look at him… he doesn't care. Just forget about it."

"He'll find out Laurel," he spoke as she went to leave the club, but she ignored him. As far as she was concerned, the longer she could keep the truth from coming out, the better. Obviously tonight's attempt to come clean proved to her that there was no hope that her daughter would ever have a real father figure in her life, but maybe that was for the best.


	3. Honor Thy Father (1)

**I'm pretty stunned with the amount of wonderful reviews you've been leaving. Thank you for your great support. I hope you're still enjoying the story and that this chapter isn't a total let down. I hope I made it justice.**

* * *

The case she was currently working was, once again, one of the most dangerous cases she could have taken – a case no one else would take. In the midst of helping Emily Nocenti find justice for her father's homicide she'd found herself in the middle of a war zone. Now the guys who killed Nocenti were after her, they wanted her dead for they knew she wouldn't walk away from the case otherwise. Her father had been angry once he realized the danger zone she had walked into and insisted she was put in protective custody. She protested because even though she understood he was afraid he would lose her too, she couldn't stand being treated like a child. So maybe she was reckless, but that allowed her to chase the big guys without faltering. She was proud of herself. Ultimately she caved, and allowed her father to place a few uniforms outside of her building. Not only that but she allowed him to take Maia to his place. On that matter she didn't argue, in fact, she welcomed the suggestion. She was well aware of the fact she was messing with dangerous people and it only made sense that her daughter wouldn't be with her until the case was closed in the event that anything happened. So tonight Laurel found herself sitting on her armchair eating a microwave meal and leaning towards her laptop on the coffee table, preparing herself for court, when someone knocked on her door. Her eyes travelled slowly from her 17'' screen to the hallway that lead to her door and she leaned back just a little, even the process of chewing the food in her mouth halted for a moment. Had Somers actually send someone to kill her? She placed the half empty container of food on the coffee table, next to her laptop and got up quickly but quietly. She stood on the same spot for a second as there was another soft knock.

"_Wouldn't a killer just barge in?" _she wondered, walking with some hesitation towards the door, her eyes quickly scanning the room, before they returned to the hallway.

When she reached the door she looked through the peephole and relaxed for a second. No killer. However, she soon found herself tense up again.

"Hey," Oliver whispered.

Laurel stood there, holding her door open, not bothering to hide her annoyance. She couldn't understand this man.

"Are you okay?" Oliver asked in a tone that conveyed confusion. She raised her eyebrows, wondering if he was so stupid that he didn't understand his words the other night had not granted him an invitation to her apartment nor did they mean that she was _okay_ with him. "There are two cop cars outside…" he added, looking behind Laurel to see if there was anything suspicious.

"How am I supposed to stay away from you if you won't stay away from me?" she asked, irritated and confused.

"I-," he hesitated.

"What are you doing here, Ollie?" the lawyer pressed, her eyes unmoving, the irritation not dissipating, but increasing.

"My sister took wha-" he stammered. "She pointed out to me that I have been distant since I got back and that it would probably be a good idea if I let somebody in."

Laurel shifted uncomfortably before nodding her sarcasm and looking away from him as she stated her mock reasoning, "So, you thought you'd start with the first person you pushed away," she finished moving her head back to look at Oliver.

"I did that to protect you," he said simply. "And then I saw you yesterday, and I realized that I hurt you."

Laurel took a deep breath in, lowering her head just slightly, wondering what could possibly be so wrong with this man that he seemed way more confused than she was. Couldn't he just decide what he wanted once and for all? Deciding to give him one more chance she quickly looked to her side, inspecting her proximities for any indications of Maia that could have escaped her eagle eyes when she cleaned her apartment just a couple of hours before. Noticing nothing seemed out of the ordinary she stepped slightly to her left, clearing the way for him, but making a point of not looking at him, silently telling him she was still annoyed.

"Thank you," he thanked her, stopping in front of her as he walked inside and catching her eyes with his.

As he kept walking she followed him with her gaze for a second before closing the door.

"Wow…" he whispered as he reached Laurel's living room and stopped right at the entrance, admiring the familiarity of the surroundings. Not much had changed and he found himself smiling at that. "This place hasn't changed in five years," he acknowledged out loud.

"I haven't really had time to redecorate," she stated sarcastically, passing by him and making sure to say it to his face. The truth was… even she was surprised to acknowledge that five years later and a small daughter her living room still managed to look the same. The living room was probably the only room in her house that was clear from Maia's footprints though. It was something she subconsciously had tried hard to keep that way as she sometimes needed to just be in her own environment, relaxing in a grown up looking setting, without toys scattered around. She had made sure to store even the children's movies inside a cabinet she had designated for Maia's belongings so the little girl could store the things she wanted to keep in the living room and everything had its place. That way and with a little effort, her house wouldn't be messy all the time.

"I'm a jerk," he suddenly said. Laurel stopped in her tracks, her back to Oliver. "Before the island I was a jerk…" he started again.

Laurel crossed her arms before turning around, trying hard to maintain her irritation level high enough so she wouldn't fall for his spell again.

"And now I'm just a… I'm a damaged jerk," he finished just above a whisper.

"What's in the bag?" she deflected, not taking her eyes from his face but very well aware of the bag he was holding with his hand.

He lifted his left arm and looked to the side, smiling faintly. "I thought about many things on the island, but there was one thing that I thought about every day. I actually dreamed about it." He chuckled, taking a step towards the brunette. "I promised myself that if I ever got a chance to do it again, I'd do it with you," he admitted enthusiastically reaching inside the bag as he continued walking towards Laurel, who looked at him and the bag with a spike of interest under her falling irritation. She couldn't help but smile when he grinned at her just moments before he held up a giant tub of ice cream, "Eat ice cream."

While Laurel had grabbed a bowl for herself, Oliver was eating directly from the tub. They were eating in silence, the muscular man sitting on the floor by Laurel's feet and the young lawyer sitting comfortably, slightly reclined with her sneaker clad feet up on the couch. She sat facing the other end of the couch, staring fascinated at Oliver as he grinned, eating his ice cream. He couldn't remind her of Maia any more than he was right now, with his dimples eating his ice cream as if it was the best thing in the world, almost innocent.

"This is as good as I remember," he broke the silence, looking to his left to see Laurel watching him. She smiled, embarrassed, pushing her bottom lip in her mouth and biting it softly as she looked down to her bowl and focused on her ice cream, playing with it slowly with her spoon.

"My mother wants me to join the company," he confessed. Laurel looked at him for a second before looking up and making a funny face, showing her silent opinion that she couldn't imagine such thing. "Yeah," he scoffed. Laurel's eyes fell back on Oliver, listening intently as he continued to share, "Take my rightful place."

"I can't… exactly picture you as master of the universe," she teased.

"You know…" Oliver looked forward, escaping warm green eyes. "After five years… I, I have plans," he admitted, nodding softly and trying to read Laurel's face. "I have things that I have to do." Laurel's face turned into a more serious expression, not exactly irritated because she couldn't be irritated at Oliver for long, but just pensive. She wondered if in disguise he was actually talking about them too. She didn't think she could deal with that idea. She could try and be friends, but if the intensity in Oliver's gaze said anything, he wanted more, even if he wouldn't admit it yet. She paused the motion with her spoon, letting it fall against the side of the bowl with a loud shriek, all of her attention was directed towards reading him. "I can't do that if I'm… I don't know," he paused. "Attending board meetings and stockholder briefings."

She took another spoon of ice cream in her mouth. "Oliver," she called him softly in a newsflash tone of voice. "You're an adult," she stated it for him through a smile and in her normal tone, watching him watch her. "You can say no."

"Oh I tried," he let out, shaking his head. "Didn't take."

"Well, then don't tell her," she offered. "Show her. Be the person that you want her to see you as." She stopped herself for one second, wondering if she had caught herself talking about them. "Trust me. I have plenty of experience with disapproving parents," she added a couple of seconds later, clearing the path of any misinterpretation even if she, herself, wasn't sure of what she'd meant.

Oliver nodded almost imperceptibly his understanding. "I have been on the receiving end of your father's disapproval."

"He blames himself more than he blames you," she clarified with honesty, setting her bowl on the coffee table. "He thinks that, you know, maybe if he and Sarah were closer, she would have told him about the boat trip. And he could have stopped her from going with you."

He didn't understand how she could be so calm talking about this with him. Her kindness really didn't have limits and he couldn't help but feel like he was abusing her. "I'm sorry."

"You apologized already," she stated, her voice faltering her just in the slightest as her eyes too couldn't handle looking at him.

Oliver shook his head regretfully. "And it will never be enough," he told her in low tone with all the conviction he could gather. She believed him. She could see there was no hint of malice in his eyes now. She could see clearly the ghost of regret in his eyes.

"Did you hear that?" he asked her alarmed, breaking the intense gaze with Laurel. He looked around them, trying to focus on the noise.

"What?" Laurel played with her fingers, not concerned about anything, just trying to focus on any familiar noise she could explain to Oliver.

There was another creaking noise and instantly Oliver was on his feet, crouched down. This time Laurel heard it too and followed the noise with her head towards the window, a smile still on her face. Oliver grabbed the knife they had used to cut the ice cream and slowly got up, Laurel still looking at the window, unaware. "There's someone on the fire escape." He got up and it was at that moment, noticing the knife on Oliver's hand, that she realized he was serious.

"Wha- What?" she asked in a higher pitched tone, concerned.

"Hey, come on!" Oliver quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her up from the couch. "Come on, come on," he yelled. Something was definitely wrong. They took off running towards the door but as they got there it was broken down and so Oliver stopped Laurel's movement and pulled her in another direction. There were now two people inside Laurel's house and shots were being fired at them, they ran leaning down, Laurel nearly hyperventilating with panic. Oliver took a turn past the living room and into Laurel's bedroom, but a guy jumped through the window at that exact moment, he changed directions and entered the next room, pulling the brunette with him, behind him, but a woman, too, jumped through that window, landing on a small bed filled with stuffed animals. Oliver immediately changed directions again and ran back to the living room – they were surrounded by these people and now he had to find a way to fight them all and protect Laurel at the same time. Suddenly more shots were heard but none of them was hurt, that's when he noticed one of the assassins falling on the floor and his bodyguard appearing, Glock 19 in hand, firing successfully at all the men surrounding them. The woman however, escaped and launched herself at Diggle. The muscular bodyguard was on the floor, being choked by this blonde wigged woman. Oliver was in front of Laurel shielding her, but given that there was only the woman left he ran a few steps and threw the knife at her. Seeing she was fighting alone she ran away, leaving Diggle coughing and looking in confusion at Oliver. Laurel ran immediately into Oliver's arms, scared, still breathing fast, and her face unmoving with the panic. The young Mr. Queen held her tight against him, stroking her hair as he brought her impossibly closer towards his chest. He would never let anyone hurt her.

"Are you hurt?" Diggle shouted at Oliver, still embracing Laurel. "Are you hurt?" Diggle repeated, grabbing his gun again.

"No… NO!" Oliver shouted back. Who could possibly want to hurt Laurel? What case was she working on this time?

"Hey…" He bent his knees enough so that his face was leveled with Laurel's and placed his hands on each side of her face. Her hands grabbed his wrists instinctively, not ready to let go of his protective embrace. "You okay?" he whispered at her. The curt nod she gave him was enough for him to relax and pull her back to him. "Com'ere."

When the police and the medical examiner's office arrived she stayed close to Oliver, however, as soon as her father arrived in her apartment she ran to him.

"Daddy!" she breathed out, hugging him tightly.

"Thank God, thank God…" her father whispered into her hair. "Are you alright?" he asked, pulling her away enough to inspect her.

"I'm okay," Laurel reassured him, with misty eyes. "Those cops that you put on me…" she started, not understanding why they hadn't come up to help out.

"I went outside to ask for a light and they were both dead in the squad car," Diggle informed them. Laurel brought her hand to her mouth, for the first time realizing just how dangerous these people were and how they could have easily killed her or her daughter had she been there with her.

"It's alright honey, it's alright…" her father tried to comfort her, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Mr. Diggle, thank you," Detective Lance thanked him, shaking his hand. "Feel free to run as many red lights in the city as you want."

"Just doing my job, sir," Diggled brushed it off.

"No, your job is protecting him," he finished with venom, staring at Oliver. "It seems like whenever you're with one of my daughters, people die," Detective Lance snarled, walking past Diggle and closer to Oliver. "You stay away from Laurel, or I swear the next time you disappear, it will be permanent."

"Dad!" Laurel shouted her warning. The truth was she had to thank Oliver as much as she had to thank Mr. Diggle. If they hadn't been there she would be the only body leaving her apartment in a black bag.

"No Laurel, it's okay," Oliver soothed. He deserved what he was getting. "I understand," he spoke to the detective. The man was right.

* * *

The day of the Robert Queen's memorial applied sciences center opening Laurel was standing right there with the crowd, on the third row. Things had changed, her perspective on Oliver had changed, but then again, at the memorial, she couldn't understand why he was trying so hard to be a cretin. She didn't know what to expect from him anymore, one minute he was being kind, polite and mature, the other he was acting reckless and shaming himself in public. She needed to face him, tell him he couldn't fool her and that was why today she found herself in his house, walking into his living room.

"What are you doing here?" Oliver asked, surprised to see Laurel.

"That was some speech at your father's memorial…"

"Yeah," he breathed out. "Not my finest hour, but you said I should be the person I want her to see me as," he explained in his indifferent tone. "So I did it."

"No you didn't," she replied sharply. It was obvious to her what he was doing, she just didn't understand why he felt the need to push people away.

"What do you mean?"

"I've known you nearly half my life Oliver," she explained, walking towards him. "I know you as well as I know my name, and all that speech was an outstanding effort to piss everyone off and keep your family and friends at arm's length," Laurel disclosed just inches away from him, speaking with natural confidence. "I could tell," she whispered forcefully. "I could see that it was an effort."

Oliver looked away, unable to fool her, unable to hold his mask steadily in her presence. Or maybe she really did know him enough to see past it.

"So when you're done keeping secrets… and you're done trying to push everyone away, that's when you should show up in my place with ice cream," she finished with a whisper, still staring confidently at him. He looked back at her, lips pursed. They shared yet another long moment before Laurel turned to walk away. Oliver had been busted, but he too had things he needed to say.

"When we were at your place, the night of the attack…" he started in his usual tone of voice.

Laurel stopped in her tracks to listen, not bothering to turn around to face him.

"We walked into a child's room," he finally said.

The brunette stiffened and was glad her back was to Oliver because she was sure her face had turned white from the panic. She didn't know what to say, she didn't even think she could say anything. If she opened her mouth the only thing coming out would be the contents of her stomach, she knew.

"Were you ever going to tell me?" he asked, not mad, just curious at what her response would be. "You have a child…" Oliver stated.

Laurel turned slowly, eyes wide open with fear. She genuinely felt like she was going to be sick. Her heart pounded on her chest and she tried to swallow a knot on her throat. This time it was her moist, bloodshot eyes who ran away from his.

"I'm glad you moved on," he finally told her the partial truth. "You deserve to be happy."

"Ollie I-" she stuttered.

"You don't owe me an explanation. I just wanted you to know that I'm happy for you. Didn't want you to think you had to hide it from me." He smiled genuinely.

She shook her head, finally meeting his eyes.

"I wanted to have told you sooner, but…"

"I didn't particularly make it easy by being a jerk, I get it." He smiled, taking a step forward and reaching for Laurel.

She took a step back, shaking her head nervously.

"Maia," she whispered, meeting his eyes.

He smiled, turning his head slightly to the side in confusion. "What?"

"My daughter," she said through a loud exhale. "Her name is Maia."

He nodded, smiling proudly at her. "I like it."

She let a tear escape. That was not what she had planned. In fact, she had had nothing planned, but this clearly was not going the way she thought she'd ever imagine this going. She felt at a loss, she was scared and a crying mess.

"Hey?" Oliver whispered, trying once again to pull her closer. "What's wrong?" he asked concerned, holding her tightly against him.

Laurel breathed in his scent and closed her eyes for a moment, before once again pulling away.

"I- I'm sorry I…" She briskly wiped the tears from her face and took a deep breath. "I should have told you the moment I knew you were alive."

"No. Laurel, I told you…you don't owe me any-"

"Ollie!" she interrupted him. "Maia's yours."

His face fell in disbelief, his mouth hanging partially open. _"Maia's yours." _He took a step back, staring at the empty space behind Laurel. No matter how many times he replayed those words in his head he still couldn't understand. It was as if in a split second his ability to process perfectly coherent sentences had been compromised. He cleared his throat. "What?" he whispered to himself.

"Maia is your daughter."

He was frozen, his mouth still hanging, eyes bulging and heart racing. Very slowly his eyes refocused on Laurel's, trying to understand where the joke was, but her face was as serious as he'd ever seen it. He was a father... to Laurel's child.


	4. Honor Thy Father (2)

**I never expected to have this much feedback. I'd like to thank each and every one of you who has taken the time to review, follow and favorite my fic. I honestly thought that with all the Olicity fans, my fic would fall in some sort of black hole or something. It was a wonderful surprise to realize there are still a few people who are supportive of Lauriver.**

**Happy Readings :)**

* * *

"I don't know what to say."

It was awkward for both of them. Oliver didn't know how to respond and Laurel wasn't sure if he was entitled the right to have time to process the news. She stayed silent, waiting for him to say something else.

"Did you know? When I left on the boat trip, did you know then?" he asked her dejectedly, walking backwards to sit on the couch.

"No. It was too early then. I only found out a couple of months later," Laurel told him, recalling the day she received the news. She wished she hadn't felt so trapped back then.

Oliver nodded, running his hands through his short hair. "When was she born?" He couldn't think of anything else to ask and it seemed the most logical question he could come up with at the moment.

"June the 9th...in 2008," she indulged him nervously. "She was a tiny baby, but healthy." She smiled.

"I'm sorry…" He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry I wasn't there." The seriousness in his face moving her. Oliver had definitely changed.

"You couldn't," she brushed it off, shrugging.

"I wish I could have." He got up, wanting to reach for her, but unsure of the appropriateness of the situation. Instead he closed up as much of the gap between them as he could and looked at Laurel, really taking the time to admire the woman she was. He breathed in deeply and swore he couldn't possibly be more in love with her than he was at this moment. Knowing they had a daughter together only made his feelings for the lawyer intensify, even if he knew it was dangerous, that his underground activities could risk both their lives if he let them in.

"I want to meet her," he told her, nodding with a hint of a smile. "I want to meet my… our daughter," he corrected himself.

"No," Laurel declined.

He frowned, not understanding what she was getting at. Certainly she couldn't just have told me he was a father so she could keep him away from their child.

"I want to meet my daughter, Laurel. I want her to know me, I want her to know who she is. I want her to know her family. She's a Queen," he tried to reason with her.

"No," the brunette insisted. "She's a Lance, her name is Maia Lance and it will remain that way for the time being. I'm not going to confuse her," she explained her.

"Confuse her?" he scoffed. "By introducing her to her father? I'm not asking you to drop her off with me and go away. I'm asking you to introduce me to her and be there. I don't know how to be a father I need you there."

"Exactly," Laurel pointed out.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked annoyed.

"I'm her mother, Ollie. My job is to protect her and right now I'm protecting her from you," Laurel let out in exasperation.

"I'm not going to hurt her. Is that what you think? She's my daughter too Laurel, for Christ's sake," he muttered, squinting his eyebrows.

"No! You have not earned the right to be her father, yet. My goal is not to make your life miserable, Ollie. Despite the fact that deep down I'm still hurt by what you did, despite any issues we might still have, I'm only looking for Maia's best interests," the brunette clarified not holding back the intensity in her voice.

"And I want to be a part of her life. That's her best interest." He frowned. Couldn't Laurel just understand what was so blatantly obvious? "It's her right too. You of all people should know that."

"Ollie… she thinks you're dead," the young woman told him softly. "This is not something I can just dump on her, I need to prepare her and I need to be sure that you know what a big a commitment this is. This is permanent, this is not something that will just go away when it gets hard. She adores you, if you're entering her life you can't let her down."

"I'm not lettin-… Wait, she knows who I am?" he asked hopeful.

"I've talked to her about you from day one." Laurel nodded. "She knows enough about you in a vague way. Does she know she's Oliver Queen's daughter? No. But she knows her daddy's name is Oliver, that she was wanted and that he loves her very much," Laurel's tone remained soft and caring. She understood what a delicate topic this was and it was expected that he would try to make rash life changing decisions. She needed to make him think. "You can't just come in and ruin that perfect illusion she has of you. You need to be sure you want her in your life and all the changes it implies."

"You never told my family?" he asked suddenly, his mind too hyperactive to remain in one topic at a time. He had so many questions he wanted answered.

"Ollie, please… you think our families wanted anything to do with each other? I was not going to have an amicable relationship with your mother after what happened, and for Thea to know Maia, which I'd have loved, your mother would have to know," Laurel reasoned. "I preferred to stay away from the Queen family as much as possible and so did they from me. I was not in a good place back then... nor was my father. And when your mom came to us that day to tell us... to tell us that Sara was with you... Well, things got bad fast," she explained, thinking back to that terrible time of her life.

"They could have helped you-"

"I never needed your money and I never will. Maia has always had anything she needed and everything I did I did it for her, to protect her. Our families weren't getting along and I did not want my daughter to grow up in a crossfire." Laurel crossed her arms, her annoyance building again.

"I understand."

Just like that Laurel relaxed. She realized Oliver wasn't trying to attack her, he was trying to understand and make sense of anything that was happening. She nodded, thankful.

"Can I meet her?" he asked calmly. "Just meet her, as a friend of yours…" he quickly added.

"I'm not going to forbid you from seeing her Ollie," Laurel explained softly. "You can meet her." Oliver nodded, smiling at the opportunity to at least see his little girl. "Look… I'm only trying to make you see this is huge, I'm giving you a chance to think about it and back away while you can. I'm giving you a chance to see her and be in her life without the commitment. But if it ever comes to the point where we tell her you're her father, Ollie… I swear to God I'll make your life miserable if you hurt her," Laurel emphasized the last part, unashamedly threatening him. He could only smile at her protectiveness.

"I'm not backing away Laurel. I love you. You were the reason why I fought to come back. And now I come back and find out that I… we have a daughter. I'm going to fight for you. The both of you," he whispered, placing his hand on both of Laurel's arms while letting her read him.

Laurel shook her head. "Don't misinterpret anything Ollie. We may have to shake hands and establish common ground because of Maia, we may have to build a friendship, but I want nothing to do with you… romantically. I'm done with you. So whatever you do, don't do it thinking about me. Do it only because you want to do it for Maia." Those were her terms, build an amicable and healthy relationship with Oliver for their daughter's best interest.

"Thank you," Oliver told her softly, ignoring her rant. "Thank you for taking such good care of her, for raising her… I'm sure she's wonderful, that you did a terrific job Laurel bringing her up," he said, smiling proudly, eyes swollen with moist emotion. "But from nowvon you're not going to be alone. I promise you I want to be here for our daughter," he finished just as softly as he had started.

Laurel nodded. "Prove it, Ollie." And he would.


	5. Lone Gunmen

**It's taking me longer to update now because I have college finals going on and it ain't fun. I'm not extremely pleased with this chapter, but well… let me know what you think.**

Laurel appeared hand in hand in her living room with their daughter. She walked slowly, keeping an eye on the little girl who was shyly shielding herself more and more behind her leg. She wasn't used to Laurel bringing new people to their house to have dinner with them. She already knew most of her mommy's friends – this was new.

Oliver was stunned, watching that small human being that was his. The love and protectiveness he felt for that little girl was both frightening and exhilarating. He didn't exactly know her yet and already he was unconditionally lost in fatherly love.

"Hey," he said softly with a welcoming smile as he crouched down to be at his daughter's level.

Maia stopped and hid completely behind Laurel who too crouched down. "It's alright sweetie," she soothed her daughter, caressing her cheek. "This is a friend of mommy's and he's really funny too," she told Maia with sound enthusiasm. "Do you want to go say hi?"

The little brunette shook her head, her ponytail swaying from side to side. She lifted her arms, placing them around Laurel's neck, her face already hidden from Oliver's view.

"It's alright honey," Laurel told her, stroking the child's back in slow circles, tightening her hold on the little girl as she got back up Maia in her arms. With her head resting on her mom's shoulder, Maia was either venturing to look outwards to inspect Oliver or burying her face on the crook of Laurel's neck. "Don't think too much about it, Ollie," she told him casually as she motioned for him to take a seat on the couch. "We are a little shy at first aren't we babe?" she asked her child, kissing her nodding head. "Once she feels comfortable with you you'll beg her to give you a minute."

Oliver smiled at the woman, just admiring the two girls together. "I'm not worried, I'm…taking it in", he admitted, elated.

"Would you like to go play while mommy finishes cooking dinner?" Laurel asked softly. Maia nodded, sitting up straight in her lap, sliding off Laurel's legs in slow motion, too focused on reading Oliver, her curiosity winning over her shyness.

Should he be saying something? What could he possibly say? He didn't know how to interact with kids, especially when he didn't know anything about them. He swallowed nervously.

"Whash your name?" Maia asked leaning on the couch, her hand grabbing on Laurel's knee for steadiness, as her feet fidgeted to match her embarrassment.

"My name is Oliver," he told her softly, leaning forward to be closer to her, eyes glancing at Laurel nervously, unsure.

Maia giggled, biting her tongue between white little teeth. It was her turn to look at her mom with a cheeky smile that reached her green eyes. "Tha's daddy's name!" Laurel nodded, smiling back at her.

"Is that so?" he asked with an accelerated heartbeat. It felt strange knowing she was referring to him without knowing.

"Uh uhh." She nodded vigorously. "I go pway now," she let them know, skipping to her bedroom.

"This feels awkward," Oliver admitted. "I have no idea what I'm supposed to say."

"You're thinking too much," Laurel told him, getting up.

He followed her to the kitchen. "That's the problem… I can't think."

"It takes time. You don't know each other, you can't just expect to magically know what to do. I didn't know what do either and I carried her for almost 9 months. Sure I loved her unconditionally even before she was born, but it was hard once she was actually here. I had to learn her, I had to figure her out, her needs, her signs… and it was all very frustrating at times. I was tired and she cried a lot. It was terrifying and it felt like she hated me," she confessed, leaning against the counter. "But it all worked out. It got better quickly, we got to know each other and so will you… if you want," she added with a small contemplative smile.

"It smells good," Oliver let out all of a sudden in a less serious tone. "You learned how to cook?"

Laurel chuckled, checking the oven. "Kinda had to, you know? Still… it is not something I enjoy doing. Whenever I can I persuade my dad to cook for us," she told him mischievously. "So… I heard you're opening a club."

"Uh… yeah." He nodded vigorously, watching Laurel prepare a salad.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" the young woman asked him without looking. "It's not like you have any experience in running a…well, anything."

Oliver smiled. "Yeah. I'm sure." He couldn't exactly tell her about his private office on the sublevel, from where he led his secrete operations at night. "I thought I'd expand the family business," he added vaguely. "And actually… I could use your help with the construction permits. The paperwork is already burying me."

Laurel turned around, raising her eyebrows. "You really couldn't find a more inspiring line of work, could you?" she fake mocked him.

He laughed. "What?"

"Just… hand me the paperwork when you can. I'll look into it when I have some time to spare. I do have more pressing cases at hand, you know? With my job at actually helping people…"

"When you can is good. That's all I ask." He raised his arms in defeat. "Thank you."

She nodded, grabbing the salad bowl and passing it to Oliver. "Can you take this to the table for me?"

"Sure."

He'd just set the salad bowl on the table and was about to rejoin Laurel in the kitchen when he spotted Maia peeking inside the living room.

"Hey," Oliver said softly, welcoming her with a warm smile. "Do you need anything? Your mom is in the kitchen…" he told her, walking slowly to her.

Maia looked intently at him. "Are you mommy's boyf'iend?"

"No! No…" He shook his head, taken aback. "I'm just a friend."

"Good," Maia replied defiantly. "Cause mommy only woves my daddy, not you!" She crossed her arms.

Oliver couldn't contain his chuckle, making the small child shoot him a stern look. "I'm not kidding!" she let out, still eyeing him unpleased.

"Maia," he started, once again crouching down to her level. "I promise you I'm only a friend of your mommy's. Is it okay with you if I stay for dinner?" he asked her softly.

The child's lips twitched as she thought about it, then her face softened and she smiled guiltily. "If you a f'iend you can stay."

"Thank you," he told her sincerely, still amused at his daughter's threatening stare – it was Laurel's 'don't mess with me' face.

"You behave boy!" Maia told him sternly, grinning when Oliver lifted his hands in surrender, this time not hiding any of his amusement. He was sure she and Detective Lance had some sort of allegiance and wondered what Laurel would say if she were to find out about it.

"I promise!"

"Oheever?" Maia called him when he stoop back up. "You haff to help me," she told him very seriously.

He looked around for any signs of Laurel before cautiously replying, "Sure. What do you need?"

She huffed and shook her head, annoyed at his cluelessness leaving him wondering if he was actually supposed to know what she needed help with. "Come with me," Maia commanded, holding his hand in hers. Oliver took a deep breath feeling overwhelmed with this moment that meant very little to his daughter, but meant everything to him. His mind went blank for a second, before Maia's struggling sounds pulled his attention back. "Coooooooommeeee," Maia breathed out in exhaustion, putting most of her weight on Oliver's arm and trying to move him from that spot.

He shook his head, clearing it. "Sorry." He followed the little girl into her bedroom and immediately felt a cold loss in his hand the minute she let go of him. He closed his hand into a fist, subconsciously trying to hold on to that sensorial memory. "What do you need?" he asked the child, forcing himself not to get lost in thoughts once again.

Maia didn't reply as she was busy with the dolls on her bed. Suddenly she opened her arms and hugged as many of them as she could. She then turned to Oliver and pursed her lips, "You can bring Josey!" she told him hurriedly, starting to walk unsteadily, with too many dolls, towards the door.

Oliver looked confused. "Wait…" he let out. "Who's Josey?" he asked, suddenly feeling very dumb again.

Maia exhaled loudly and shook her head, turning back and letting the dolls on her arms fall on her bed as she too, uncoordinated, fell on top of them.

"I can help you, can you just tell me which doll Josey is?" Oliver asked cautiously, feeling like he was stepping on shattered glass. For some reason it felt as though catching criminals was easier than pleasing his daughter.

Maia slapped her hand on her forehead and looked at Oliver, shaking her head, before going over to her pillow, retrieving a small baby born doll and walking back to Oliver and placing it in his arms. "Josey is not a doll!" she corrected him. "She's a baby!" she added shaking her head.

"Oh…right. A baby doll." He nodded in agreement.

"No." Maia turned around looking at him with a frown. "No doll. A baby."

At that point Oliver thought it would be for the best if he remained in silent agreement with the child and so, after she grabbed her dolls, he followed her to the living room.

"Now we haff to sit the babies on the table, 'cause they hungwy too," she explained, placing the dolls on the couch and walking to the dinner table, pulling all the chairs back. Taking the initiative Oliver placed Josey on one end of the table. When Maia came back she placed the doll she was carrying on one chair and then noticed Josey already on a chair. "No! You can't sit Josey thewe!" Maia quickly grabbed the doll and hugged it. "Josey is the littlest so you haff to hold her cause if she's awone she falls and then gets huwt and we haff to ask mommy to take her to the doctah!"

"Oh, I'm really sorry Maia, I didn't mean to hurt Josey…" he tried. "I can hold her if you want." Maia shook her head.

"You sit the othah babies on the table," she explained.

Wanting to please her Oliver went over to the couch and grabbed the remaining three dolls all at once.

"No!" Maia protested. Oliver flinched.

"What? I was just going to sit them, like you asked…"

"You going to huwt them! It's one at a time!" she explained, annoyed that Oliver didn't know something so obvious.

Oliver cradled one doll in his arms and turned to his daughter, expecting a reprimand.

"See? Now you're a good mommy!" Maia said enthusiastically as she watched Oliver walk over to the table. "You haff to kiss her too! 'Cause dats what mommies do!" Oliver frowned and leaned his head down to kiss the doll in his arms on the forehead. A loud laugh caught his ears and he looked up to see Laurel holding a tray with food and completely lost in her own amusement of watching him kissing a doll.

"What are you guys doing?" Laurel managed to ask with a huge grin on her face.

"I guess I was introduced to Josey and the other doll- babies!" he corrected himself just in time to avoid offending Maia. Laurel chuckled once again, making him blush furiously.

"Never thought I'd see Oliver Queen playing with dolls," she teased him.

"He's no good mommy!" Maia complained.

"He isn't sweetie?" Laurel asked her daughter, but looking at Oliver. "Well maybe you can teach him some other time, okay? It's his first time playing so we have to be nice, alright?" Maia nodded. "Can you take your babies back to your room sweetheart? We're going to eat now and we could use those seats." Laurel smiled.

"Kay mommy…"

"And…" Laurel started as her daughter hurried to pick her dolls up. Maia looked at her intently. "Have you thanked Oliver for playing with you? He really tried to do well didn't he?" Maia pursed her lips, thinking hard. She then nodded at Laurel and with a doll in each hand she walked over to Oliver and lifted her arms.

Oliver glanced at Laurel who nodded at him. He then lifted the child in his arms and hugged her back, accepting a sloppy kiss on his cheek. Before he knew it, it was over and the little girl was squirming her way down to retrieve the rest of her dolls.

"Don't you look smitten…"Laurel winked at him, a small knowing smile gracing her lips.

"She's perfect," he told her simply with a deep unfamiliar blush in his cheeks.


	6. An Innocent Man (1)

**There's really no valid excuse for how long it's taken me to update, but you know... life takes over, interests shift, creativity goes south... there's really many things at play that end up stalling the writing process. But... here's a new chapter. I hope you'll enjoy it.**

**Thank you so much for your amazing feedback, for sticking with me and for pushing me to write :) Hope you are all well!**

* * *

Yet again he found himself in a bad place with Laurel. That was the thing with them, a frustrating push and pull between the two of them. It, of course, didn't help that Oliver was living an underground life no one could know about – no one he loved anyway, because as of tonight John Diggle, his assigned bodyguard, had to be informed of his activities. It wasn't a hard decision. Not only had he contemplated the matter before, but he also couldn't let the man die a victim to one of Deadshot's poisonous bullets. Oliver saved him and by doing that he committed to revealing himself. It was a risk, but he had gotten pretty good at evaluating people – something told him Diggle wouldn't let anyone know about his little secret. It hadn't even crossed his mind while he was trying to save Diggle that his family might have been worried – he too was worried about a man and his only thoughts were ones of preparing the herb blend Yao Fei had once used on him to save his bodyguard. It wasn't until he walked inside his house and found himself cornered by Laurel that he realized he had done wrong in her eyes again. He cursed himself as Laurel accused him of being selfish and of putting himself in front of everyone. Here she was, concerned about his family while he had been God knows where. It couldn't look good for her and he found that no excuse would fix it, so he decided to remain silent before he gave her reasons to keep Maia away from him, which he knew was probably the best given what he did, but he couldn't bring himself to accept that. He was more than The Hood, he was a father and he wanted it too. He desperately wanted both things to co-exist. So, he wasn't surprised when he woke up drenched in sweat from a nightmare, only about an hour after dozing off – a mix of the demons that haunted him from the island, of the anxiety of living a double life and the uncertainty of parenthood. What surprised him when he walked into the TV room was to find his sister there, also awake.

"Couldn't sleep, either?" Thea asked him, munching on her popcorn.

"No," he replied somberly, sitting down on the small, comfortable couch next to Thea. "What are you watching?"

"Peter Declan." Oliver looked at her confused. "A guy who killed his wife," she added, looking at her brother who still shook his head – he was not familiar with the case.

"Right," Thea let out, remembering it had happened while Oliver was gone. "This guy killed his wife in their baby's room. Psychooo…" she elaborated for him, both now watching the program on TV. "So why can't you sleep?" she asked her brother with interest, muting the program.

"Bad dreams," Oliver stated, shaking his head.

"About?" she pressed, not taking her eyes from him.

"Laurel," he admitted, finally looking at Thea.

"So why don't you make a play?" She smiled playfully. "I mean, she did come over here just to make sure you didn't get shot."

"There are reasons," he evaded.

"Mm, what are they?... Besides you sleeping with her sister and her sister dying and her father hating your guts and you basically being a jerk to everybody since you've been back?" She continued, pushing boldly.

"Those are the top ones." He smiled sadly, meeting his sister's eyes. "And we have a daughter," he added lowering his own.

"Excuse me?" She coughed, jerking into a straighter position, facing her brother.

"We have a daughter. Me and Laurel," he repeated, feeling the weight of those words as they replayed in his own ears. It was still somewhat unbelievable to him.

"What the fuck, I heard you the first time. I thought I'd fallen into the realms of insanity but now I'm sure," she let out in disbelief. "What is this you're telling me? I mean… how?"

"She was pregnant when I left, although she didn't know at the time. It was a surprise for me too."

"It's impossible. I've never… What? I don't know about any Queen bastard lovechild," she protested in her surprise.

"Thea…" Oliver started.

"Holy shit, I'm an aunt?"

"Thea, no one can know," he told her in an even, serious tone.

"What do you mean no one can know? It's your kid! Does mom know?" Thea pressed further, her thoughts racing and her emotions conflicting.

"No one knows except me, Laurel, her father and Tommy."

"Oh her father must be anxious to gut you big bro," Thea mocked him. "You have to tell mom and Walter!"

"No one can know," he reinforced. "Do you understand, Thea? You can't tell anyone."

"Why not? Hasn't Laurel done enough, hiding the kid from her family? Can she even do that?"

"Thea, Maia doesn't know. She can't find out through the media or by someone, other than Laurel, telling her. The minute this gets out there it will get out of control quickly and Maia's life will be turned upside down. We're not exactly a low profile family, there will be people after her and Laurel and some might even try something… we have to approach this carefully. Laurel needs to prepare her," he explained, both to himself and Thea. It seemed that Laurel's reluctance was making more sense to him, now that he voiced his own concerns to his sister. "She thinks I'm dead Speedy," he added with pent up regret. Had he been a different man, less afraid of commitment to the love of his life and his years on the island would have never happened. He could have been with Laurel and Maia from the beginning. He wouldn't have missed so much. He wouldn't have missed all the important things. Then again, without the island he knew he would have never grown out of his peter pan syndrome, he would have never paired his adult body with an adult personality and he would have screwed things up sooner or later with his permanent inner child.

"So? She's a kid, what does she know? Just tell her Jesus brought you back or whatever bullshit they're using these days." She shrugged. Oliver eyed her seriously. "Fiiine," Thea finally conceded. "But I want to meet my niece!"

* * *

"Maia," Laurel started, pulling her daughter into her lap facing her. "Mommy wants to talk to you about something."

"I was good mommy, I eat all my foot," Maia pouted.

"I know sweetie, you ate all your fruit," she repeated to correct her daughter.

"What you want to tawk about mommy?" the child asked, looking intently at Laurel.

"It's about daddy, honey…" she told her cautiously.

Maia exhaled and slouched, grabbing a strand of Laurel's brown hair and playing with it, avoiding her mom's face.

"Maia, look at me sweetheart," Laurel told her softly, lifting her little girl's chin with her hand. When little green eyes met hers, she spoke, "Do you remember mommy telling you daddy was in heaven?"

Maia nodded, unconsciously tightening her grip on Laurel's hair.

"Do you remember how daddy went there?" she asked as both her hands enveloped much smaller hands, nervously clasping at her hair.

"Daddy had an accent wiff a boat and mommy's sistah too and daddy's daddy," she explained, extricating her hands from Laurel's grip and letting go of the hair, focusing instead on the top buttons of her mom's shirt.

"That's right sweetie, daddy had a boat accident with grandpa and Auntie Sara," she paraphrased. "Do you remember when grandpa took you camping and you came home really sad because you'd lost Josey on your way there?" Laurel asked her softly.

Maia nodded vigorously. "Uh uhh! But, but… but I didn't mommy!"

"No you didn't. You thought you'd packed Josey on your backpack, but you'd left her home," Laurel filled in the gaps.

"Uh uhh. It was weally sad cause I thought I would nevah see Josey again," she said with real fear in her eyes, pouting and leaning forward to rest her head on Laurel's shoulder.

Laurel stroked Maia's back. "And then you found out you had misplaced Josey. She was under your bed and what happened when mommy told you to clean up your bedroom?"

"I found Josey!" she squealed on her mother's lap, beaming. "And I was weally happy!"

"That's right sweetie." Laurel nodded, caressing her daughter's cheek. "You see baby… daddy was on that boat accident and everyone was really sad because we thought we'd lost him forever," she started. "But it turns out that daddy just got a little bit confused on his way back home and he took the longest way back here," she explained.

"Like when you take me to school it is faster than when gwandpa takes me?"

"Yes baby, like that." Laurel nodded. "What mommy means is… everyone thought daddy died and went to heaven, but it turns out daddy just took a longer route and was a little late."

Laurel stopped to look at her daughter allowing the silence to set in, noticing how, by the frown on her face, her little girl was clearly trying to process the information.

"Mommy? So… we can see daddy?" the little girl asked slowly, her gaze still somewhat lost, along with her thoughts.

"Yes we can and you know what?" Maia's eyes opened wide as she gasped and shook her head in surprise, looking intently at Laurel as her mouth fell partially open. Laurel could almost touch her daughter's astonishment, knowing very well by the rise and fall of her chest, that her little heart was racing with anticipation and anxiety. "Daddy really wants to meet you. Would you like that?"

Suddenly Maia's face fell. "But what if daddy doesn't wike me?" This, as far as Laurel knew, from what her little girl voiced, had never been a concern before. Still, never before had her daughter been given the opportunity of meeting her dad, her very own personal hero. It was only natural the little girl would be concerned.

"Baby your daddy loves you," Laurel told her softly, grabbing a little hand and bringing it to her mouth for a reassuring, tender kiss. "Daddy wants nothing else than to hold you, you know why?"

Maia shook her head, leaning yet again against her mommy's chest, seeking the familiar comfort.

Laurel kissed the top of Maia's head before whispering. "Because you are his little girl and to daddy there's no other girl in the world who is more special than you."

"You mommy!" Maia stated with a shrug as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"No sweetheart, not even mommy," she corrected, rubbing Maia's back. "YOU," she stressed. "You are daddy's girl." Laurel smiled.


End file.
